A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

September 16, 2008

Schiff is in fine form during this report. Brutally honest. You have to watch this."Now the world is finally beginning to realize that we're not good for the money, we can't pay it back, because we've been borrowing to consume. Nobody has loaned us money to build factories to build infrastructure."

"We have nothing to show for the trillions of dollars the world has lent us except empty houses, plasma TVs, SUVs, we've blown the money on consumption"

"The world needs to recognize that the US is not the engine of the global economy - we're the caboose. Anyone can consume. The solution is for the world to write off the US."

Watch both parts. Wonder how all of this could happen under the nose of an MBA president. Think about what happens if this truly is the end of the ponzi scheme. Think about how much the US government has lied to you, and to the people of the world. Then have a nice stiff drink.

My fellow Americans ,lend me your ear . It's not over because we can undo what we did regarding taking jobs and manufacturing outside of America . I beg the Corporations of America to come back and have some loyalty to America and that work force .

-Sarah's a milf-Alaska's close to Russia-they're so mavericky-McCain can share his houses-she's one of us-reality doesn't count, only assertions-lies don't count, only panders

reminds me of-a 2 hour commute doesn't matter when gas prices are low-a big back yard is better than a present parent-everybody's doing it-if you don't get in now, you'll be left behind-better fight em over there-be careful of the mushroom cloud over NY

As and Australian, I can tell you we're just as f#%@ed. In 1998 the Reserve Bank of Australia, in their wisdom changed the measure of inflation (CPI) so that only the cost of new housing was included. Subsequently land prices doubled and trippled in some places and now housing affordability as it an all time low. And of course this "inflation" in land prices did not show up in the "measured" inflation. A boom without inflation. And our former conservative government had the gall to claim that interest rates were always lower when they were in power.

We all love Peter, god bless the old stirrer, but can I point out that Steve Keen is doing a marvellous job here in Australia in educating the public (and media)about the local debt bubble and its consequences for housing market, future economic growth etc. Check his blog (and great podcast) at

To understand what is happening you have to go back to who was responsible for it all in the first place...The EVIL ones...and the two words that caused it all..."Deregulation"..."Globalisation"...The insanity off free market' economics, or should that read GREED of the few at the expense of the many.

The influence that Thatcher had over Reagan as regards economic thinking (or lack off) was key to todays events.

"They really respected each other's views, and if that is not influence, I don't know what is".

"President Reagan said: "We met before she became prime minister and I became president, and the moment we met, we discovered that we shared quite similar views of government and freedom. Margaret ended our first meeting by telling me that we must stand together, and that is exactly what we have done ever since"...

http://tinyurl.com/2266eb

"Ian Gilmour served as defence secretary during Edward Heath's administration, before becoming Lord Privy Seal in Margaret Thatcher's first government"

"In September 1981 he was sacked by Mrs Thatcher and remained a prominent critic of what he regarded as extreme Thatcherite policies"

"He responded to his sacking by Mrs Thatcher by issuing a statement declaring that she was steering "full speed ahead for the rocks"...

http://tinyurl.com/6cmprl

"It is 25 years since Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. Click on an individual in the image or use the drop-down menu below to find out more about the members of her first cabinet, and what has happened to them since"...

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration is pushing through a broad array of foreign weapons deals as it seeks to re-arm Iraq and Afghanistan, contain North Korea and Iran, and solidify ties with onetime Russian allies.

From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005.

The trend, which started in 2006, is most pronounced in the Middle East, but it reaches into northern Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and even Canada, through dozens of deals that senior Bush administration officials say they are confident will both tighten military alliances and combat terrorism.

"This is not about being gunrunners," said Bruce Lemkin, the air force deputy under secretary who is helping coordinate many of the biggest sales. "This is about building a more secure world."

The surging American arms sales reflect the foreign policy tides, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader campaign against international terrorism, that have dominated the Bush administration. Deliveries on orders being placed now will continue for several years, perhaps turning out to be one of President George W. Bush's most lasting legacies.

The United States is far from the only country pushing sophisticated weapons systems: It is facing intense competition from Russia and elsewhere in Europe, including continuing contests for multibillion-dollar deals to sell fighter jets to India and Brazil.

In that booming market, U.S. military contractors are working closely with the Pentagon, which acts as a broker and procures arms for foreign customers through its Foreign Military Sales program.

Less-sophisticated weapons, and services to maintain these weapons systems, are often bought directly by foreign governments. That category of direct commercial sales has seen an enormous surge as well, as measured by export licenses issued this fiscal year covering an estimated $96 billion, up from $58 billion in 2005, according to the State Department, which must approve the licenses.

About 60 countries get annual military aid from the United States, $4.5 billion a year, to help them buy these American weapons. Israel and Egypt receive more than 80 percent of that aid. The United States has also recently given Iraq and Afghanistan large amounts of weapons and other equipment and has begun to train fledgling military units at no charge; this military assistance is included in the tally of rising foreign sales. But most arms exports are paid for by the purchasers without U.S. financing.

The growing tally of international weapon deals, which started its sharp increase in 2006, is now provoking questions among some advocates of arms control and some members of Congress.

"Sure, this is a quick and easy way to cement alliances," said William Hartung, an arms control specialist at the New America Foundation, a public policy institute. "But this is getting out of hand."

Congress is notified before major arms sales deals are completed between foreign governments and the Pentagon. While lawmakers have the power to formally object and block any individual sale, they rarely use it.

Representative Howard Berman, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he supported many of the individual weapons sales, like helping Iraq build the capacity to defend itself, but he worried that the sales blitz could have some negative effects. "This could turn into a spiraling arms race that in the end could decrease stability," he said.

The United States has long been the top arms supplier to the world. In the past several years, however, the list of nations that rely on the United States as a primary source of major weapons systems has greatly expanded. Among the recent additions are Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, India, Iraq, Morocco and Pakistan, according to sales data through the end of last month provided by the Department of Defense.

Cumulatively, these countries signed $870 million worth of arms deals with the United States from 2001 to 2004.

For the past four fiscal years, that total has been $13.8 billion.

In many cases, these sales represent a cultural shift, as nations like Romania, Poland and Morocco, which have long relied on Russian-made MIG-17 fighter jets, are now buying new F-16s, built by Lockheed Martin.

At Lockheed Martin, one of the largest U.S. military contractors, international sales last year brought in about $6.3 billion, or 15 percent of the company's total sales, up from $4.8 billion in 2001.

The foreign sales are credited with helping keep alive some production lines, like those of the F-16 fighter jet and Boeing's C-17 transport plane.

SK: Nah, people don’t want to hear that from me. I will say that, as the scary guy, the thought of the two-year governor of Alaska becoming President if McCain got the job and then died doesn’t thrill me. Part of it’s that right-wing bunker mentality, but mostly…well, let’s face it: McCain’s pretty old. At the outer limits of the insurance actuarial tables.

Steve: So you do want to talk about politics?

SK: Really, I don’t. I’ve got an Obama sticker on my car, and I guess that says what needs saying. Call me a tiresome liberal if you want, but I just think it would be nice to have a smart guy running things for a change. We tried dumb and it hasn’t worked out too well.

I am a proud American. It is a darn shame that our nation has lost it's most important asset; it's credibility. For such a long time, our government has LIED to investors around the world.

At the same time, those investors/savers from around the world have lended/invested trillions of dollars by purchasing our treasuries, municipal bonds, corporate stocks and bonds, etc... based upon the LIE that our financial system is transparent. The past twenty five years the empire of debt is based upon an empire of lies. Phony GDP numbers, phony unemployment statistics, phony inflation statistics, and phony corporate "profits" have all come to haunt us.

Even though I am a proud American, I hope the rest of the world sticks it to us. I think that is THE ONLY WAY AMERICANS WILL LEARN TO LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS. I also hope that foreigners have learned their lesson, to NOT TRUST US.

MBA's are half the problem. The mantra in business schools now is to teach that to reduce costs a manager must ship production, design, etc over-seas. The problem with this philosophy is what we have today. No economic engine. No design, no manufacturing. It's fine to ship over low cost manufacturing eg textile just like Europe did 100 years ago, but that industry must be replaced. America failed to do this and replaced it with real estate. Hence we have the major f-up that is the USA today.

Hey Bobby Jones...Yea, watching Pope John Paul his last few years always reminded me of Weekend at Bernies. Could be the same with McCain.

And I think Stephen King deserves to be rich (super or otherwise). Why is it that people who work hard and are successful shouldn't be? Let's take all the rich folks money and give it to those who don't work. I hate Robin Hood/Santa Claus politics.

Agent99, I have no problem with a certain level of wealth and income disparity. It's natural that some people are more productive and therefore should enjoy a larger share of overall production.

However, let's not forget that the system itself plays a large part in determining how big each individual's slice of the pie is. Without copyright legislation Stephen King would have no more money than Keith or any of us bloggers. Does Stephen King really work that much harder?

Wherever there are people who are very rich and very poor there is legislation that supports the inequalities.

Hey, Stephen King has a lot more talent than I do but does that mean he deserves billions while my family starves?

I'm exaggerating but remember that there are billionaires in this world and there are also riksha drivers that work 16 hour days who never had a chance at education or even literacy as a means of bettering themselves.